1. Field of the Disclosure
The present invention relates generally to electrophotographic image forming devices and more particularly to a toner cartridge having an alignment member for aligning with a developer unit in an electrophotographic image forming device.
2. Description of the Related Art
In order to reduce the premature replacement of components traditionally housed within a toner cartridge for an image forming device, toner cartridge manufacturers have begun to separate components having a longer life from those having a shorter life into separate replaceable units. Relatively longer life components such as a developer roll, a toner adder roll and a doctor blade are positioned in one replaceable unit (a developer unit). The image forming device's toner supply, which is consumed relatively quickly in comparison with the components housed in the developer unit, is provided in a reservoir in a separate replaceable unit in the form of a toner cartridge that mates with the developer unit. Toner flows periodically from a reservoir in the toner cartridge to the developer unit through an outlet port of the toner cartridge into an inlet port of the developer unit.
The position of the developer unit in the image forming device has some variability or play allowing the developer unit to move in order to maintain a constant force between the developer roll and a corresponding photoconductive drum for uniform printing. The variability of the position of the developer unit makes it difficult to precisely align the outlet port of the toner cartridge with the inlet port of the developer unit when the toner cartridge is installed in the image forming device. If the outlet port of the toner cartridge and the inlet port of the developer unit are not properly aligned when the two units are mated, toner leakage may occur which may result in mechanical and print quality defects. Further, if the ports are not properly aligned, an undesired force may be applied to the developer unit by the toner cartridge disturbing the positioning of the developer unit relative to the photoconductive drum which may result in non-uniform printing. Accordingly, a mechanism that provides proper alignment between the outlet port of the toner cartridge and the inlet port of the developer unit is desired.